Arslanbek Makhmudov anticipates much more resistance Saturday night than he encountered during his first fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia eight weeks earlier.

The hard-hitting, unbeaten Russian heavyweight contender demolished Junior Anthony Wright on the Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou undercard October 28. Agit Kabayel is undefeated, too, though, and wants to legitimize himself as a top-tier contender by knocking off the favored Makhmudov in their high-stakes 10-round bout on the Anthony Joshua-Otto Wallin undercard at Kingdom Arena.

Makhmudov, 34, discussed his fight with Kabayel during his “grand arrival” Tuesday night in Riyadh.

“I expect a more difficult fight because this fight my opponent is more experienced, a more top-level, you know, guy,” Makhmudov told the broadcast team of Darren Barker, Andy Clarke and Dev Sahni. “But I’m ready. I need to [have] this fight. I’m ready [to have] this fight.”

Germany’s Kabayel (23-0, 15 KOs) and the Montreal-based Makhmudov (18-0, 17 KOs) each seek the type of win to move closer toward title contention.

The 31-year-old Kabayel’s most noteworthy victory was a 12-round, majority-decision defeat of Dereck Chisora in November 2017 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The 6-foot-3, 238-pound Kabayel has been mentioned as a potential opponent for Fury, the unbeaten WBC champion, in recent years, yet he has fought only six times in the six years since his victory over Chisora.

The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Makhmudov has beaten veterans Carlos Takam, the only opponent to take him the distance, Mariusz Wach, Erkan Teper and Samuel Peter. Makhmudov dropped Takam once apiece in the first and seventh rounds, but their fight 15 months ago in Montreal was competitive on the scorecards (97-91, 96-92, 96-92).

Kabayel is undefeated and remains in his physical prime, however, which is why Makhmudov took this fight on a stacked card that’ll feature numerous former heavyweight champions and contenders.

“We’ll see on Saturday, but of course I think I have better boxing skills and power,” Makhmudov said. “Saturday I go [to] do my job and my job is always same. I go and destroy, that’s it.”

Makhmudov is ranked third by the WBC, fourth by the WBA, seventh by the IBF and 14th by the WBO. Kabayel is rated 12th by the IBF and 13th by both the WBC and WBO.

DraftKings sportsbook has made Makhmudov an 11-1 favorite. Makhmudov-Kabayel will be part of an eight-bout pay-per-view show scheduled to start at 4 p.m. GMT in the United Kingdom (£19.99) and 11 a.m. ET in the United States ($39.99).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.